Friday, September 30, 2016

Happy Friday! This morning I have teamed up with a group of 24 design bloggers spearheaded by my amazing friend, Jana Bek of Jana Bek Design, to highlight our favorite photographers in what we are calling #CameraReadyInteriors and to give our favorite photographers a shout out for capturing our designs so artistically!

Good photography is an art form especially interiors photography! Photographing interiors is very different than portrait photography. We often have to work hard to achieve magazine ready interiors. It's kinda tricky too! Often what you see in the photos are not the way the room

actually lives. We have to cheat furniture to achieve a great angle. We exaggerate furniture placement and try to create a story with my photographs. A good interiors photographer is a designer's best friend! I'm highlighting a few of the photographers I have been so fortunate to work with over the past few years. Please take a minute and check out

of Charlotte,NC. Dustin is an amazing photographer from my home city of Charlotte,NC. I have had the pleasure of working with Dustin for several years. I love his use of light and angles. I love working with Dustin! Photo shoots are grueling but he and his wife Susie always make them so much fun! Dustin's work has been seen in Traditional Home magazine, QC Exclusive, South Park Magazine and many others.

Make sure you check out his website here to see more of his beautiful work!

photo by Dustin Peck Photography

photo by Dustin Peck Photography

Emily Followill

Often times as a designer, I am working outside of Charlotte and need a photographer in other cities such as I did for the Southeastern Showhouse in Atlanta, Ga featured here. I was familiar with Emily Followill's work, so I hired her to shoot the mudroom and friend's porch of I designed for the showhouse. Emily shoot for many shelter magazines so I have seen her work and knew she would be a good choice. Make sure to check out her website here. Emily was a joy to work with in Atlanta. We had a fun and productive shoot! Emily's work is often featured in Veranda, Better Homes and Gardens, Atlanta Home and Lifestyles Magazine, Traditional Homes, and Southern Living Magazine.

photo by Emily Followill

photo by Emily Followill

photo by Emily Followill

Stacey Van Berkel

Stacey Van Berkel is another favorite photographer of mine. Stacey grew up in Nova Scotia and now calls Greensboro,NC home. I first met Stacey when she and her team photographed the Adamsleigh showhouse Gentleman's bathroom, Traci Zeller and I designed in 2013. Since that time, Stacey has photographed the historical Hooper-Kyser House in Chapel Hill, NC for me, which is in the photographs above. It is always a joy to work with Stacey. Her work if often seen in Coastal Living, Southern Living, Garden and Gun and Domino. Make sure to visit her website to see more of her beautiful images here!

photo by Stacey Van Berkel

photo by Stacey Van Berkel

photo by Stacey Van Berkel

photo by Stacey Van Berkel

I hope you have enjoyed meeting some of my favorite interiors

photographers! They work so hard and deserve so much credit!

Thank you to Jana Bek for including me in this fab group of design bloggers this morning!

Please head over and see who the other design bloggers enjoy working with when it comes to interior photographers!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

As a designer, I have an installation kit that I take along for installing client's homes. I am always looking for the latest and greatest compact tools because otherwise, my installation kit gets really heavy. I recently discovered the Kelvin.36 and love it. Seriously, who doesn't love a tool that can replace 36 items in your toolkit, right? And it is small enough to fit in a kitchen drawer if you just want a simple tool that can hammer, screw, measure, and open a wine bottle to name a few of its most desirable traits. I think I'm going to buy a few for Christmas gifts.

Mine is pink which I chose on purpose because I live in a house full of men and felt they might think twice before walking off with a hot pink tool!

I also like that this tool has a sharp blade that is hidden

when I did need it.

This might be the only way I can keep up with a tape measure! I keep saying that I'm going to invest in a box of two hundred tape measures with my logo on them but this might solve the problem.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Bon Appetite presents Chicago Gourmet! I'm here in Chicago today to attend the most exciting event in Millennium Park. It's my favorite appliance brand, Thermador's 100th Birthday Bash! There are events throughout the day from 11:00 am til 11:00 pm! If you are in Chicago, come out and celebrate with us. If you aren't in Chicago, make sure to follow me on my instagram to see live videos and pictures of all the events. We have major chefs here cooking up everything from tacos to tailgate fare. I cannot wait to meet Rick Bayless from Frontera Grill and well-known PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time, who is hosting the Tao of Tacos at 8pm on the Harris Theater Rooftop along with Mindy Segal and Takashi Yagihashi and others!

Thermador is an official sponsor of Chicago Gourmet. My trip is sponsored by Thermador but opinions are my own. I only participate with brands that I know and love. I only write about things I think my readers would enjoy!

I am so excited that Atlanta Magazine's HOME is our co-presenter and Editor in Chief, Betsy Riley will moderate our conversation!A Complimentary lunch will be served! You can earn a .01 CEU for attending and have a lovely lunch!Take an hour reprieve from the hustle and bustle of running around at market! Sit down, relax and join the conversation, along with a nice lunch!On another note....Here's another "Don't Miss" opportunity!Learn How to Prop & Style Your Shots Like a Pro with a Pro....Annette Joseph is conducting a seminar prior to ours in the same room and I'll be there along with my studio partner, Traci Zeller, won't you join us? Annette is an amazing stylist producer and cookbook author! I cannot wait to attend! Questions? Visit the Americasmart Website for Details Here!Amerciasmart.com